Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Passenger 135 : The Investigation

The Titan Rangers assigned Judges Baen and Esqueza to investigate the messy death of Willfred Jones. Murder on this scale, 10 Goblins shot or blown to pieces, was unusual in a colony where artifact theft and smuggling were the big time rackets and only the occasional Dark Star killing was the norm.

In the wake of Jones’ death tension would build. For one thing his rackets were up for grabs. For another the death of so many goblins might ignite a powder keg. There had always been anti-Goblin sentiment amongst the colony’s largely human population with incidents of “Gobbo bashing” one of the more charming crimes confronting the Rangers. Some of the Goblin population had become increasingly militant. Understandable? Perhaps, but from a Justice Department viewpoint potentially criminal.

Arriving at the feature the exo-archeologists had dubbed “The Monastery”, Baen and Esqueza got down to business. The lab techs would follow up with a complete sweep of the scene but a few clues had emerged. The killer worked alone it would seem, using a high caliber pistol and explosives. What data slates had survived the blast had not been tampered with and the techies would be near salivating at getting a chance to have a go at them.

It was Judge Baen who made the most startling discovery; a suitcase full of Umpty worth thousands of creds on the street. The suitcase had been forced open, but the contents had not been disturbed. Well robbery certainly wasn’t the motive then. When the lab techs arrived they were able to estimate when the attack occurred. Unfortunately the techs weren’t able to come up with any trace of the killer’s DNA.

Based on the nature of the crime, the apparent lack of theft of contraband or data, and the meticulous manner in which the perp had covered his tracks, Baen guessed the killer was a professional brought in from off world. A quick check of arrivals and departures at the space port was in order.

En route to the space port, the Judges received word that Lundigard Huggins, former Jones muscle, turned community activist, was planning a protest march to the Prometheus district in response to the slayings. That would all be well and good if the Prometheus district wasn’t the heart of Hubert Ving’s territory. Any such march, of peaceful intent or not, was likely to end in bloodshed. In an effort to dissuade Huggins the officers took a detour to the Goblin’s current base of operations: “The Goblin-Sentient Alliance”.

In the end they were able to persuade Huggins to at least delay his march to the give the Rangers time to investigate the murders. Huggins made no secret that in his opinion Hubert Ving was behind the massacre as the opening move of a bid take over all of the colony’s rackets.

Checking arrivals and departures at the space port was a bit of a disappointment. The list of possible suspects gleaned from the space port was daunting. As it happened the murders occurred the same week as the antiquities fair at the Titan University Exo-Archaeological Society (T.U.E.A.S). The list of possible suspects gleaned from the space port was daunting. Judge Baen thought it best to start by seeing the organizer of the fair, one Dr. Oliver Poole.

…Who had gone missing just after the fair. A quick check of Dr. Poole’s quarters came up empty. Everything was gone. Cleaned out. Dr. Poole was last seen after the fair, before the murders. There was ample time for Dr. Poole to have reached the space port and caught the Luna run. After the murders.

Clearly Dr. Poole was now a person of interest.

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This part of the game was played out entirely on paper using the Mythic RPG .

I'm not a hardcore RPG player, thinking of the RPG more as a means of linking skirmishes together rather than as the end in itself. That having been said Tom Pigeon has put together an excellent system for solo/co-op play with no need for prior preparation or a Game Master. Just keep your imagination open and let the game be your guide.

Not exactly sure where to take the story next but have a few ideas. Feel free to comment with your own (polite! : ) ) suggestions below.